Come, Ye Thankful People, Come is one of the great and traditional hymns of
thanksgiving to the almighty God that is popularly sing during the Christian
Harvest Festival and was written by Revd. Henry Alford. Thanksgiving is an
uncommon virtue and harvest is a blessing.

Anyone who has ever lived in a farming
community knows the urgency associated with the harvest. The fruit
of a whole year’s work hang on the harvest, which cannot be accomplished until
the crop is ready and which must be accomplished quickly then lest it be
spoiled by pests or weather. During the busy harvest season, farmers
literally work day and night to get the job done. Only after the
harvest is there time to relax and celebrate.

But even if we aren’t farmers, we can appreciate the urgency of deadlines' the
joy of an important job well done, the relief of a respite after a busy time at
work. This is aspect of thanksgiving of the hymn. Thanksgiving is acknowledging
the God behind our blessing, the God behind any good thing in our life (gift of
life, joy, peace). To acknowledge means to admit, to recognise, to accept, to
reply – to reply God that He is behind the blessings in our life, e.g. we can
talk, our legs and hands can move, God is behind it. It doesn't matter whether
our blessings are small or big, God is behind it.

In the fall of 1844, while Revd. Henry
Alford was at Wymeswold, his first charge, the people of this hamlet decided to
have a festival, rejoicing in the abundant harvest already gathered into their
barns. For this particular occasion Alford wrote a song, “Come, Ye Thankful
People, Come”, which has been sung, perhaps millions of times during Harvest
Thanksgiving celebrations.

This popular Harvest Festival hymn was
first published in Revd. Henry Alford Psalms and Hymns in year 1844 when
Dean Alford was only 34 years old. It has been revised through the years and
reduced from the original seven stanzas to the now popularised version of four
stanzas. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnody details several revisions of the
text both by Alford and others, resulting in the author’s final revision in
1868.

Hymn Singing

Only the first stanza deals directly on
the physical harvest, an image used throughout scripture from early in Genesis
through Revelation. The first stanza focuses with the temporal
harvest here on earth. The other three portray the spiritual harvest of
precious souls and the time when God shall come to 'gather in' His people.

The following two stanzas are an
interesting commentary on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares as recorded in
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.

The second stanza begins Alford’s
expansion upon the parable of Jesus concerning the wheat and the tares (weeds)
from Matthew 13:24-30. It is a challenging parable, which Alford interprets in
this hymn to describe how joy and sorrow grow together in life, and how God
does not eliminate sorrow until after the final harvest when God “will
wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and
pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”3

The third stanza moves more directly to
the apocalyptic with “For the Lord our God shall come.

The final stanza is a prayer for the
Lord’s return–”the final harvest home”– the culminating event that Henry Alford
sees as the ultimate demonstration of God’s goodness in His eternal purpose of
man’s Redemption..

The author, Rev. Henry Alford DD, was born in London, England, on
October 7 1810. Born into a long line of Anglican clergymen, Alford was raised
early by his father and later by his uncle, Rev. Samuel Alford, due to his
mother’s death during his birth. This resulted in his early education being
scattered between private tutoring and a variety of schools, but in 1827 he
became a scholar at Trinity College where he received all his secondary
education (B.A. 1832, M.A. 1835). He was ordained a priest in the Anglican
church in 1834, served in the vicarage at Wymeswold in Leicestershire (18
years), at Quebec Street Chapel in Marylebone, London (4 years), and as Dean of
the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England (14 years).

It
is said that at the end of a hard day’s work, as well as after every meal, it
was customary practice for “Dean” Alford to stand to his feet and give thanks
to God for the blessings just relieved or enjoyed during the day. This
spirit of perpetual gratitude is clearly evidenced throughout this hymn.

Because
of Alford’s strenuous efforts and unlimited activities in the Christian
ministry, he suffered a physical breakdown in 1870, and died on January 12,
1871. His passing was mourned throughout the entire Christian
world. During his lifetime one of the “Dean’s” unfulfilled, cherished
dreams was to visit the Holy Land. Although this dream was never realized,
it was said of him that is eyes were fixed upon the Heavenly Jerusalem toward
which he journeyed. On his tombstone the following appropriate
inscription is found: “The Inn of a Pilgrim Traveling to Jerusalem.”

The
composer of this tune, “St. George’s, Windsor”, was George J. Elvey, who served
as the organist for forty-seven years at the historic, royal chapel at Windsor
Castle in England. He originally composed the music for James
Montgomery’s text “Hark! The Song of Jubilee,” published in E. H. Throne’s
Selection of Psalms and Hymn Tunes in 1858. In 1861, this tune first
appeared wedded to Henry Alford’s text in the well-known Anglican Church
hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern. It has found a place in nearly every
published hymnal to the present time.

George
Elvey was knighted by Queen Victoria, in 1871, for his many years of faithful
service to the royal family as well as for his various musical publications,
including several oratorios, anthems, and collections of service music.
Elvey is also the composer of the familiar hymn tune “Diademata,” generally
used with such hymn texts as “Crown Him With Many Crowns” and “Soldiers of
Chris Arise.”

As
noted above, some reviewers of the hymn have pointed to the incongruity of this
sturdy and joyful tune with the text, but there is some beauty in this pairing
as well, especially concerning painting of the text. Among others, one such
case is the use of a dotted rhythm, balanced throughout the music, as a
compelling invitation to sing, notably on the opening “Come.” One might also
notice the phrase “all is safely gathered in” where the pitch begins and ends
on A, but feels “gathered” by the use of the neighboring tones, Bb and G.
Midway through the hymn, the phrases, “first the blade and then the ear, then
the full corn shall appear,” are sung in an ascending sequence that seem almost
like corn growing in the field, and later the leap upward for ‘raise the song’
and ‘raise the glorious’ helps to paint the intent of the final phrases in
stanzas 1 and 4.

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Phamox music is a music blog brand that provides information about classical music, hymns, African art music, art musician and hymnal. The main purpose of creating this blog is to provide useful and comprehensive information that worthy to be used as reference across the globe.